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Nearly 150 troops gathered silently, many stepping down from heavy machinery, when the words were finally spoken: Ran had been found.
By United with Israel Staff
New details are now emerging about the intelligence trail and ground operation that led to the recovery of the body of Ran Gvili, bringing Israel’s hostage mission in Gaza to its final, solemn conclusion.
According to Israeli security officials, the breakthrough began about a month ago with a covert operation in southern Gaza City, during which Israeli forces captured a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist and brought him in for interrogation.
The Shin Bet said the terrorist had been involved in attacks against Israeli forces during the war and was suspected of having direct knowledge of where Gvili was buried.
During questioning, the terrorist admitted to involvement in moving Gvili’s body between multiple locations and identified others who were aware of its final resting place.
The interrogation refreshed and sharpened existing intelligence, reinforcing an assessment that the body was buried in the al-Batash cemetery in northern Gaza.
Over the weekend, the IDF launched Operation Brave Heart, acting on intelligence it said it had held for months. Forces entered a cemetery between the Shejaiya and Daraj Tuffah neighborhoods, just beyond the Yellow Line, in an area under Israeli control.
Troops from the Alexandroni Brigade, supported by combat engineers, medical teams, and Military Rabbinate personnel, carried out the painstaking exhumation of more than 200 graves, with hundreds more examined.
Identification efforts were aided by portable dental X-ray equipment, while mental health officers accompanied soldiers throughout the grueling work.
Further insight into the final hours of the mission came from Lt. Col. (res.) Elisaf Verman, commander of the Southern Scanning Unit of the Military Rabbinate, speaking Tuesday morning on Kan Reshet Bet Radio.
He described nights of relentless labor carried out in silence and freezing conditions. “We dug with our hands at night,” said the officer who commanded the force that identified Gvili.
Verman recalled the moment the breakthrough became undeniable, describing a sudden call from the control station and a rapid race to conduct more thorough examinations. Multiple dentists converged at once, he said, and prayers filled the air as certainty replaced doubt.
To prevent any information from leaking before the family was notified, the teams continued working as usual. Only after confirmation was delivered were the soldiers informed.
Nearly 150 troops gathered silently, many stepping down from heavy machinery, when the words were finally spoken: Ran had been found.
Additional details were later shared by Dr. Esti Sharon, commander of the police identification division’s volunteer dental unit, who led the scientific identification.
Speaking on Kan News Radio, Sharon described receiving the first image that changed everything.
“Around the 251st body, I received a photo, and they wrote to me: ‘Look, look. At last there’s someone who looks like him,’” she said. “We brought him up, documented the findings, and it was a scientific identification of Ran.”
Sharon said her hands trembled when she first saw the dental images, even as she forced herself to remain completely focused.
She described the moment as emotionally overwhelming and deeply symbolic, realizing that Gvili was the final hostage and that the mission was complete.
She recalled soldiers and medics embracing through tears and said she quietly removed the hostage pin she had worn throughout the war, placing it in her pocket as she understood her role had come to an end.
With the return of Ran Gvili, there are no longer any hostages, living or fallen, held in Gaza. What remains is the story of persistence, intelligence pursued without pause, and a national promise fulfilled to its very last name.
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